System of spinning yarn

ABSTRACT

In yarn spinning apparatus fiber feed and separating system the feed mechanism comprises a pair of rollers or tapes for drawing the fiber, the separating mechanism comprises a roller and at least a counter roller, the roller and counter roller of the separating device being driven at substantially higher speed than the feed mechanism.

United States Patent Bartling [151 3,685,270 1 Aug. 22, 1972 [54] SYSTEM OF SPINNING YARN [72] Inventor: Gerhard Bartling, BurgstalllMurr,

Germany Assignee: SKF Kugellagerfabriken- GmbH,

Schweinfurt, Germany Filed: April 27, 1970 Appl. No.: 32,205

Foreign Application Priority Data May 5, 1969 Germany ..P 19 22 876.3

US. Cl ..57/58.95, 57/5891 Int. Cl. ..D0lh l/l2, DOlh 7/00, D01h 13/26 Field of Search ..57/58.89, 58.95, 139' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,926,483 3/1960 Keeler et a1. .;57/58.95

' 3,481,129 12/1969 Shepherd et a1. ....'.57/58.95 X 3,535,868 10/1970 Schiltknech ..57/58.95 3,355,869 12/1967 Vorisek ..57/58.95 3,455,097 7/19 69 Rojnoha ..57/58.95 3,462,936 8/1969 Boucek et a1 ..57/5 8.95 X 2,911,783 11/1959 Gotzfried ......57/58.95 3,523,300 8/1970 Tabata et a1 ..57/58.95 3,492,804 2/1970 Landwehrk'amp ..57/5895 Primary Examiner Donald E. Watkins Attorney-Richard bow and Murray Schafier [57] ABSTRACT In yarn spinning apparatus fiber feed and separating system the feed mechanism comprises a pair of rollers or tapes for drawing the fiber, the separating mechanism comprises a roller and at least a counter roller, the roller and counter roller of the separating device being driven at substantially higher speed than the feed mechanism.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED M1822 I972 sum 3 u? 5 INVENTOR. @ERHHRD man/M5,

PATENTEDMIEZZ I972 3.685.270

sum u 0F 5 INVENTOR. QERHHRD BHRTLM/Q SYSTEM OF SPINNING YARN The present invention relates to apparatus for spinning yarn and in particular to apparatus for feeding and separating fiber slivers transported to a rotary spinning unit.

Conventional spinning apparatus comprises a spinning rotor defining a spinning chamber, mounted in a cavity in bearing housing. The apparatus includes a feeding device and a separating device by which a web of sliver material is fed, separated and carried as individual fibers to the spinning chamber. Common separating apparatus comprises a saw toothed combing roller, journaled for rotation in the bearing housing. In

order to draw the staple fibers from the separator to the spinning chamber the bearing housing is provided with a drawing-off channel extending tangentially to the cylindrical housing cavity. An air stream (generally of negative pressure) is caused to carry the individual fibers through the channel to the spinning chamber.

The circumference of the combing roller defines a narrow gap in combination with a wall portion of the cylindrical housing cavity immediately ahead of the entrance to the drawing-off channel. In the area of this narrow gap the combining roller grips individual staple fibers of the sliver fed from the feeding device and separates them from the supplied fiber aggregation. Generally the spacing of the narrow gap is adjustable permitting staple fibers of a predetermined length to be readily released after they are intensively combed out. This is intended to prevent tearing of the fibers under the action of the combing roller.

In spite of such adjustability it has been found that the separation of fibers, without injury, cannot be achieved. The reason therefor lies inv the construction of the separating device which at high rotary speeds 1 causes the combing roller to maintain high frictional contact and tear at the staple fibers causing them to be nicked or broken in the process.

The object of the present invention is the provision of improved devices of the general type described above that permits the fibers to be separated under conditions which do not injure them.

According to the' present invention the separating system is provided having a driven separating roller and a least one counter roller. The transporting velocity of the separating apparatus is maintained at many times the feed velocity of the associated feeding apparatus. In this arrangement the individual staple fibers are separated from the sliver aggregation by being clamped between two rollers.

Full details of the present invention as well as illustrations of its advantages follow herein. The accompanying drawing shows embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of a first embodiment of a spinning unit equipped with a spinning chamber which is located releasably in the frame of a spinning machine and is equipped with a device for feeding and separating a sliver having a feeding device equipped with two feeding rollers and a separating device;

FIG. 2 is a section along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the spinning unit with the cover for the housing removed;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of a second embodi- FIG. 7 is a section along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIGS is a top line view of the spinning unit according to FIG. 5 with the housing cover removed.

The spinning unit according to FIGS. 1-4 has a spinning rotor 10 enclosing a spinning chamber and rotatably mounted in a bearing housing 12. The shaft of the spinning rotor is equipped witha drive pulley 14 which cooperates with a tangential belt 16' connected to the prime mover (not shown). The construction of the spinning rotor is shown in greater detail in the copending application of G. Bartling Ser. No. 32,133 filed Apr. 27, 1970, now abandoned, which is incorporated herein by reference, and therefor it need not be described here in greater detail.

It may only be noted that cavity 18 of the housing which receives the spinning rotor 10 may be enclosed by means of a cover plate 20, an annular gasket 22 aror trough of the spinning chamber. The fibers are drawn in to the spinning rotor 10 by a radial blower comprising a part of the rotor.

An axial output channel 32 is provided in the retaining shaft 24 and is accessible at its inner end from the outside by way of a radial connecting channel 34.- A pair of driven drawing rollers 36 are located above the radial drawing channel 34 and withdraw the yarn 38 which is spun in the spinning chamber by way of the withdrawing channel 32.-A broken thread detector 'is interposed between the drawing rollers 36 and the withdrawing channel 32.

The detector 40 has a sensing arm 42 which engages the yarn and which, when the yarn breaks, drops operating a circuit described in more detail below. The bearing housing 12 is releasably fastened in a mounting support 44' arranged on a rail 46 of the frame of a spinning machine. The rail 46 is angle shaped. A plument of a spinning unit whose feeding device IS equipped with an upstream stretching unit; FIG. 6 is a section along the line 66 of FIG. 5;

rality of spinning units may be arranged on the rail 46 in a spaced row perpendicular to the plane of the device as seen in FIG. 1. i i

A feeding device 48 is arranged upstream from the spinning chamber 26 to supply the same with staple fibers and is followed by a separating device 50. A supply of sliver 52 is fed to the separating device 50 by means of the feeding device 48, the separating device continuously resolving and separatingindividual staple fibers from the fiber aggregates of the sliver to be led, as shown in FIG. 4, by way of a channel 54 under the efiect of suction, to the spinning chamber 26. The suction being produced by the spinning rotor in the manner described in the aforementioned patent application.

As is evident from FIG. 4 the feeding mechanism 48, as well as the separating mechanism 50 areequipped with respective pairs of rollers. The axes of these pairs of rollers are parallel and are arranged in a common plane relatively to the spinning rotor in such a manner that the bearings of the roller pairs are arranged transversely to the axis of the spinning rotor substantially in a downward direction. The feeding device 48 is provided with two driven rollers 56 and 58 while the separating mechanism has a driven rollers and an idling pressure rollers 62 (FIG. 4). The two last mentioned rollers 60 and 62 and the one driven roller 56 of the feeding device are joumaled on a bearing element 64. A drive shaft 66 is arranged in a bearing 68 on the bearing element 64. The associated pressure rollers 62 are rotatably supported on a pivotally mounted arm 70 on the element 64,the arm 70 being biased by a torsion spring 72 in a direction towards and so as to cause the separating rollers to abuttingly engage the circumference of pressurerollers 62. The separating rollers 60 may have a corrugated circumference whereas the pressure rollers 62 may be provided circumferentially with a rubber coating. The pressure rollers 62 are pivotally joumaled on the arm 70 about a pin 74 by means of a trunnion 76 integral with the front walls of the rollers 62. v

The feeding device 48 preferably is of the dual tape type in which a pair of tapes 78, 80 are trained respectively over each of the two rollers 58, 58. The tape 78,

trained over the driven rollers 56 is guided around a stationary tape bridge 82 located on the element 64 immediately ahead of the two separating rollers 60, 62. A tape tensioning am 84 has a reversing pin 86 which acts on the inner face of the tapes for tensioning the same. The tensioning arm 84 is pivotally mounted on a pin 88 arranged on the bearing element and is urged by a torsion spring 90 to pivot the tensioning arm away from the inner strand of the tape.

The other driven feed roller 58 is pivotally mounted on a bearing arm 94 by means of pins or trunnions 96, 98. The arm 94 being pivotally mounted on a pin or shaft 92. A torsion spring 99 biases the arm 94 in the direction towards the driven roller 56. The second tape 80 is guided around the driven roller 58 and also around a tape holder 100 immediately ahead of the pair of rollers of the separating mechanism. By coordinating the tape holder 100 and the tape tensioning device 82 the inner strands of the tapes are aligned in parallel, to thus define a feeding field in which the staple fibers of the sliver to be processed are held substantially over the entire length until they are delivered to the feeding rollers of the separating mechanism. The parts which belong to the driven side of the tape guiding arrangement, namely, the bearing arm 94 with the roller 58, the tape holder 100 and the tape 80 are arranged on a carrier 102 which is arranged laterally of the bearing element 64 as is seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The lower end of the carrier 102 is pivotable about a shaft 104 fastened to the bearing element 64 against the restraint of a torsion pin 106. The carrier 102 may be latched by means of a latching nose 108 to a detent formed by a screw.

The feeding mechanism 48 is preceded by fiber sliver guiding device which includes a guiding channel 112 provided within a body 114. A densifier 116 of funnel I shape acts to reduce the space occupied by the sliver into a minimum. The sliver 52 is fed, according to FIG. 1 from below upward and at right angles to the direction of feeding movement provided by the feeding mechanism 48. The sliver 52 is diverted into the feed-.

higher rotary speed than the tapes 78,80 of the feeding mechanism that the desired separation of the fibers in the sliver supply is achieved. The individual pairs of rollers may be driven by the same prime drive means, or

' by a combination with the drive means for the spinning belt 122, which is seen in FIG. 1 at right angles to the plane of the drawing, passes through the spinning unit. The driven shaft 56 for driving the feeding mechanism is secured against rotation on the roller shaft 124 which passes through the carrier as 'seen in FIG. 3 in the downward direction. The lower end of the shaft carries a worm wheel which meshes with a worm 128 on a transmission shaft 130. The transmission shaft.l30 is itself joumaled in the bearing element .64 and also on a bearing block 134 fastened to a bottom frame element 132 of the housing. The transmission shaft is preferably driven by means of a worm wheel 136 which meshes with .a worm 1380f a drive shaft 140 which is parallel to the tangential belt 122. The drive shaft is rotatably supported in a bearing block 142 on the machine frame. An electromagnetic clutch 144 is interposed between the worm wheel 136- and the transmission shaft 130 proper.

The bearing element 64 is enveloped by a housing 146, the bottom portion 132 of which-has an entrance opening 148 for the sliver which is passed immediately behind'the entrance opening preferably through an initial funnel densifier 150 fixedly fastened on the housing. The space between the densifier 150 and the sliver guide piece 114 is accessible through a flap 152 whereas the feeding mechanism and the separating mechanism are accessible through a cover 154 which is pivotally mounted on the cover plate 20.

The clutch 144 is electrically connected with the yarn breakdetector so that, for any reason the spun yarn drawn from the spinning chamber 26 should break and if the yarn run should be interrupted the clutch 144 is actuated and the transmission shaft 130 is thereby disconnected from the drive shaft 140. The conveying of the sliver to the separating device is thereby interrupted while the separating device continues operating. In this manner staple fibers are prevented from reaching the spinning chamber and overcrowding is avoided.

The second embodiment shown in FIGS. 5-8 has the same, structural features as the spinning unit described above and the similar. elements of both units are designated with the same reference numerals. The difference between the two embodiments resides in the fact that a drafting or sliver drawing unit is arranged upstream from the feeding mechanism 48. The

drafting mechanism 160 of this second embodiment advantageously permits resolution and separation of a sliver web without having to increase the rotary speed of the separating rollers 60 of the separating mechanism 50 to an extreme value.

In this second embodiment the drafting mechanism forms a predrawing or stretching field which is interposed between the guide element 114 and the densifier 150. The draft mechanism is provided with a pair of drawing rollers 162 and 164 which are associated in spaced relationship with a pair of predrawing rollers 166, 168. The drawing roller 162 is fixed on the transmission shaft 130 which, for this purpose, passes through the portion of the bearing element 64 receiving the roller shaft 124. The drawing-in roller 164 is rotatably supported on an arm 170 by means of pins 172 the arm being pivotally mounted on the carrier 102 about a pivot pin 173. The torsion pin 174 urges the bearing arm 170 to pivot in the direction of the thus driven drawing-in roller 162 in order to produce the necessary clamping pressure for drawing in this sliver. The predrawing roller 166 is rotatably supported on-a bearing element 178 which is slidably and fixably arranged in a guide slot 176 of the bearing element 64.

The associated predrawing roller 168, however, is pivotally mounted, analogously to-the drawing-in roller 164, on a bearing arm 184 whose pivot shaft is arranged by means of a bearing piece 184 and a guide slot 186 of the carrier 182 for adjustment parallel to the adjusting direction of the bearing piece 178. i

A torsion pin 188 tends to pivot the bearing arm in a direction for producing clamping pressure between the predrawing rollers. A shaft 190 drives the predrawing rollers 166 and is rotatably mounted in the bearing piece 178. A spur gear 192 is fixedly fastened to the rear terminal portion of the shaft 190 which projects from the bearing piece 178. The spur gear 192 meshes with an intermediate gear 196 mounted on a transmission shaft 130. A drive 194 pivotally arranged on the transmission shaft 130. An intermediate gear 196 itself being driven by means of a spur gear 198 is secured against rotation on the transmission shaft 130.

A suitable choice of the gear transmission ratio for predrafting of sliver, in the drafting mechanism, can be obtained as desired. When the transmission ratio is changed the pair of predrawing rollers must be oriented in their position relative to the drawing in rollers for which purpose the two bearing pieces 178 and 184 are adjustably mounted in the carrier or the bearing element.

When the transmission shaft 130 is arrested by the clutch 144 during a yarn break, the shown construction ensures that both the stretching element as well as the feeding mechanism are jointly stopped.

As will be obvious from the preceding, the present invention provides simple effective means having great advantages. One such advantage arises from the fact the fiber aggregate which, in the ideal case, involves a flight of individual fibers in an air stream serially one behind the other. However, since a multiplicity of fibers is located substantially in a common plane at the transfer area or roller engaging line of the'device, with their ends directed in the direction of. transportation but spatially ofi set, many fibers are thus substantially simultaneously gripped by the rollers of the separating device. According to the invention fibers will also be considered to be separated when substantially'simultaneously individual fibers are withdrawn from the fiber aggregate and are carried to the spinning chamber without adhering to each other.

The difference in the transporting rate between the separating device and the feeding device can be. adjusted according to the density of the sliver which is to be separated. The transporting velocity of the separating device however, is maintained at many times that of the feeding velocity of the feeding device. According to the'desired degree of separation the rate may be, for example, many thousand times the feeding velocity of the feeding device. A ratio of rotary speeds of 1:1,000 for at least one roller of the feeding device and the paired rollers of the separating device will normally suffice when slivers are to be worked up whose staple fibers are not very densely arranged in the aggregate.

' .However, the denser the correlation of the individual that the friction required for releasing staple fibers I from a fiber aggregate reaches its maximum value at the beginning of the process; e.g. atthe moment at which the fiber touches the separating roller. Accordingly the staple fibers are immediately brought to the circumferential speed of the separating roller and are withdrawn at high speed from the fiber aggregate being released individually to the spinning chamber. In the apparatus of the present invention the process of fiber separation thus occurs without tearing or damaging frictional effects and thus preserves the fibers under optimum conditions.

According to the present invention separation of the fibers from a supply of fiber sliver is understood to mean a resolving or release of individual fibers out of staple fibers the greater the ratio of the rotary speeds. With a relatively dense fiber aggregate, it is preferred that a rotary speed ratio of 115,000 or more be employed. It is possible to enhance the effect of the separating roller by giving them a certain surface configuration, for example, corrugated. In a preferred embodiment, however, the rollers of the separating device have a smooth surface.

The feeding device may be of different kinds and may consist of one or more feeding rollers. However, the feeding device preferably is constituted by two rollers'enveloped by an endless belt. A clamping surface is defined between the strands of the two belts which are located adjacent each other and move in the same direction. Such a clamping surface permits a particularly advantageous transportation of the supplied sliver without relative friction or tearing.

The feeding device and the separating device may be driven by a commonly controlled drive mechanism such as by a gear transmission responsive to an electric motor which permits easy change in the rotary speed of the rollers in a continuous and stepless manner.

In the preferred embodiment, however, a separate drive is provided for the separating rollers and the feeding rollers which provides particular advantage as the feeding of a sliver to the apparatus may be interrupted at any time. It is thus possible to stop a spinning unit equipped with the feed and separating apparatus of the invention without having to discontinue the operation of other concurrently operating spinning components. In this connection it is preferred to control the starting and stopping of supply of sliver web in response to the movement of the yarn which is to be drawn from the spinning chamber in such a manner that the supply is inactivated when the yarn discharge is interrupted. Thus the unnecessary supply of individual staple fibers to the spinning chamber and consequent overloading of the same is prevented. According to a further feature of the present invention a broken end detector is provided equipped with at least one drawing-in and one prestretching pair of rollers, is preferably arranged that the distance between the two roller pair s may be quickly changed.

The coordination of the individual rollers of the separating and feeding devices relative to the spinning chamber may be varied. A particularly compact arrangement is achieved when the axis of the roller pairs .of the feed and separating devices are perpendicular to the axis of the spinning chamber. When on the other hand the feeding device is equipped with a stretching unit it may be preferred to arrange the axis of the stretching rollers at right angles to the rollers of the feeding andseparating devices. By such roller arrangements feeding device and stretching units can be ar-' ranged in a small space and thus the external dimension of the spinning apparatus can be held to a minimum.

It is particularly convenient to service the separating and feeding devices with the stretching unit, for example, for inserting a sliver. According to the further feature of the invention, the jointly rotating rollers of the separating, feeding and stretching units are joumaled in a bearing body capable of being pivoted against the force of a spring. By pivoting this bearing body the aforementioned devices can be jointly opened or closed allowing convenient access for servicing or installation of a new sliver web. I

The present invention is also advantageous in providing a coupling, controlled by the broken yarn detector, for driving the rollers of the feeding device and also of the stretching device, the coupling being interposed between the transmission shaft and the prime mover.

What is claimed is:

l. A system for feeding and separating fibers from a sliver web prior to spinning in a spinning chamber arranged to rotateabout its central axisina horizontal plane comprising, means for supplying sliver web, a

feed mechanism for moving said fiber from said web toward said spinning chamber, a separating mechanism interposed between said feed mechanism and said spinning chamber, each of said feed and separating mechanisms having a driving roller and at least one counter roller, the axes of said driving and counter rollers lying in common planes respectively, vertical to the horizontal axis of rotation of said spinning chamber to move said fiber in an axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation of said spinning chamber, said rollers being located below the horizontal plane of the axis of rotation of said spinning chamber said driving rollers being mounted on rotatable supporting shafts extending downwardly in the vertical plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the axis of rotationof said spinning chamber, and means for driving each of said driven rollers. todrive said separating mechanism at a speed greater than said feed mechanism.

4 therefrom and in parallel abuttingcontact with each 2.'The system according to claim 1 wherein said feed mechanism includes an elongated tape entrained over each roller, and means for holding each tape extended means for controlling theoperation of said feed mechanism in response thereto.

4. The system. according to claim 1 wherein the means for supplying said web includes drafting means comprises a pair of opposed rollers theaxes of which are arranged perpendicularto the axes of the separating and feeding rollers and parallel to the axis of rotation of said spinning chambers. v

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the drive means for each said feed and supply mechanism includes a spur gear each of which meshes with a gear located on a common transmission shaft, secured to a source of prime motive power.

6. The system according to claim 5 including a frame, a rotating spinning unit comprising a chamber and baffle plate mounted on said frame, said feed, separating and drafting members being located within said body, said body being pivotally mounted on said 

1. A system for feeding and separatinG fibers from a sliver web prior to spinning in a spinning chamber arranged to rotate about its central axis in a horizontal plane comprising, means for supplying sliver web, a feed mechanism for moving said fiber from said web toward said spinning chamber, a separating mechanism interposed between said feed mechanism and said spinning chamber, each of said feed and separating mechanisms having a driving roller and at least one counter roller, the axes of said driving and counter rollers lying in common planes respectively, vertical to the horizontal axis of rotation of said spinning chamber to move said fiber in an axial direction parallel to the axis of rotation of said spinning chamber, said rollers being located below the horizontal plane of the axis of rotation of said spinning chamber, said driving rollers being mounted on rotatable supporting shafts extending downwardly in the vertical plane perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the axis of rotation of said spinning chamber, and means for driving each of said driven rollers to drive said separating mechanism at a speed greater than said feed mechanism.
 2. The system according to claim 1 wherein said feed mechanism includes an elongated tape entrained over each roller, and means for holding each tape extended therefrom and in parallel abutting contact with each other.
 3. The system according to claim 1 including means for sensing the spinning of a continuous yarn and means for controlling the operation of said feed mechanism in response thereto.
 4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the means for supplying said web includes drafting means comprises a pair of opposed rollers the axes of which are arranged perpendicular to the axes of the separating and feeding rollers and parallel to the axis of rotation of said spinning chambers.
 5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the drive means for each said feed and supply mechanism includes a spur gear each of which meshes with a gear located on a common transmission shaft, secured to a source of prime motive power.
 6. The system according to claim 5 including a frame, a rotating spinning unit comprising a chamber and baffle plate mounted on said frame, said feed, separating and drafting members being located within said body, said body being pivotally mounted on said frame adjacent said spinning unit to be removable from the front thereof. 